1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of resilient support pads. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of resilient support pads for passively treating cervical, thoracic and lumbar alignment disorders and correcting or preventing poor posture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Specifically, mild forms of poor posture are very common in people. These mild forms of poor posture produce back and neck discomfort. A wide variety of pillow or therapeutic devices are designed to alleviate the pain and discomfort associated with the poor posture. One such device relates to pillow supports for easing neck and back strain while a person is sleeping or resting on his/her back (the supine position) or resting on his/her side. These pillow supports have many configurations and use a wide variety of padding and contouring materials, such as foam, polyester filaments, goose down, and the like, in order to provide relief to the user.
The following twenty-four (24) prior art patents are found to be pertinent to the field of the present invention:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 1,904,039 issued to Bruder on Apr. 18, 1933 for "Body Exercising Apparatus" (hereafter the "Bruder patent"); PA1 2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,410 issued to Benson on Oct. 23, 1956 for "Mattress With Foot Hold" (hereafter the "Benson patent"); PA1 3. U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,775 issued to Iwata on Apr. 29, 1975 for "Cushion" (hereafter the "'775 Iwata patent"); PA1 4. U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,282 issued to Bond on Dec. 9, 1975 for "Therapeutic Prop-Like Support For Hemiside Reclining Persons" (hereafter the "Bond patent"); PA1 5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,549 issued to Morrell et al. on Oct. 23, 1979 for "Cushion Ensemble And Method Of Arranging Cushions To Provide The Same" (hereafter the "Morrell patent"); PA1 6. U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,150 issued to Vineberg on Mar. 18, 1980 for "Elevated Mattress" (hereafter the "Vineberg patent"); PA1 7. U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,034 issued to Greenawalt on Feb. 26, 1985 for "Inflatable Pillow" (hereafter the "Greenawalt patent"); PA1 8. U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,573 issued to Fiore on May 19, 1987 for "Contoured Body Support Structure" (hereafter the "Fiore patent"); PA1 9. U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,844 issued to Alivizatos on Sep. 1, 1987 for "Convertible Body Supporting Pads" (hereafter the "Alivizatos patent"); PA1 10. U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,058 issued to Williams et al. on May 3, 1988 for "Convoluted Support Pad For Prevention Of Decubitus Ulcers And Apparatus For Making Same" (hereafter the "Williams patent"); PA1 11. U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,687 issued to Iwase on Dec. 20, 1988 for "Mattress With Support" (hereafter the "'687 Iwase patent"); PA1 12. U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,666 issued to Flesh et al. on Jul. 4, 1989 for "Pillow Mattress" (hereafter the "Elesh patent"); PA1 13. U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,993 issued to Walpin et al. on Aug. 8, 1989 for "Adjustable Body Positioner" (hereafter the "Walpin patent"); PA1 14. U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,894 issued to Sanders on Mar. 20, 1990 for "Adjustable Pillow" (hereafter the "Sanders patent"); PA1 15. U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,096 issued to Gilroy et al. on Sep. 11, 1990 for "Anatomically Contoured Convoluted Foam Pad" (hereafter the "Gilroy patent"); PA1 16. U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,629 issued to Jones on Dec. 18, 1990 for "Portable Inflatable Patient Assist Apparatus" (hereafter the "Jones patent"); PA1 17. U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,303 issued to Tanaka et al. on May 21, 1991 for "Cervical And Head Support Pillow" (hereafter the "Tanaka patent"); PA1 18. U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,790 issued to Jay on May 28, 1991 for "Customized Seat Cushion" (hereafter the "Jay patent"); PA1 19. U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,137 issued to Rogers on Sep. 17, 1991 for "Edge-Shear Reduction In Body Support Foam Pads" (hereafter the "Rogers patent"); PA1 20. U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,590 issued to O'Sullivan on Dec. 8, 1992 for "Therapeutic Pillow Cover Having Compartments For Receiving Hot/Cold Packs And/Or Pillow Insert Supports" (hereafter the "O'Sullivan patent"); PA1 21. U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,439 issued to Farley on Dec. 22, 1992 for "Therapeutic Mattress Overlay And Method Of Forming And Using The Same" (hereafter the "Farley patent"); PA1 22. U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,310 issued to Hsien on Jan. 18, 1994 for "Spinal Column Correction Device" (hereafter the "Hsien patent"); PA1 23. U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,783 issued to Kunz et al. on Jun. 25, 1996 for "Inflatable Head And Torso Support" (hereafter the "Kunz patent"); and PA1 24. U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,753 issued to Ruscitto on Nov. 12, 1996 for "Pillow Case Head Cover" (hereafter the "Ruscitto patent").
The Bruder patent discloses a body exercising apparatus which comprises a supporting means, a head rest and a foot rest.
The Benson patent discloses a mattress with a foothold. The mattress is made out of foam material and encased by a fabric material.
The '775 Iwata patent discloses a cushion. It comprises a main structural part with three compartments and two gusset cloths. The main structural part is formed from two covering cloths, for example, a lower and an upper, which are stitched together by a continuous stitched line peripherally along the four held edges and two transverse stitched lines to form three tandem arranged compartments which are stuffed with cushionable material, for example, elastic foam.
The Bond patent discloses a therapeutic prop-like support for hemiside reclining persons. It comprises an elongated narrow web-like draw-sheet that is superimposed upon the bedsheet at a selectable angle transversely to the bed lengthwise central axis. The prop-like support comprises a pair of substantially parallel primary sleeves carried at and extending laterally along the drawsheet elongated topside. The respective primary-sleeves are adapted to removably accommodate a bolster which firmly and comfortably abuts the upper-spinal backside of a hemiside reclining person to beneficially maintain him on the leftward or rightward hemiside depending upon the employment of the sleeves.
The Morrell patent discloses a cushion ensemble and method of arranging cushions to provide the same. It comprises a first large wedge-shaped cushion, a second smaller wedge-shaped cushion, and a third wedge-shaped cushion. The first and second cushions are arranged in a common plane so that their upwardly facing sides converge downwardly toward each other. The third wedge-shaped cushion is placed on the generally upwardly facing, inclined surface of the first cushion to serve as a shoulder, neck, or back rest.
The Vineberg patent discloses an elevated mattress for placing on the top of a conventional mattress for elevating the head and thorax of a patient.
The Greenawalt patent discloses an inflatable pillow. It comprises one or more elements for receiving the neck or cervical region of a person lying on the pillow and another, adjacent element for receiving the person's head.
The Fiore patent discloses a contoured body support structure. It comprises an upper surface contoured to maintain the spine of a person lying horizontally on the mattress in the proper curvature regardless of whether the person is lying in the supine, prone, or side portion. The upper surface has a convex shape in each of the lumbar and knee regions and has a concave depression in the sacral region with reduced tapering end portions from the lumbar and knee regions to the ends of the support.
The Alivizatos patent discloses convertible body supporting pads. The support pads are formed from flexible fabric closed covers of generally rectangular configuration forming a chamber which is filled to approximately 50% of its normal maximum volume with relatively small expanded polystyrene beads.
The Williams patent discloses a convoluted support pad for prevention of decubitus ulcers and apparatus for making same. The pad has a head and a foot supporting section, each in the form of a convoluted, checker board pattern of rows of peaks separated by depressions.
The '687 Iwase patent discloses a mattress with support members along the length of the mattress.
The Elesh patent discloses a pillow mattress.
The Walpin patent discloses an adjustable body positioner. It comprises a foundation which is comprised of top and bottom substructures. The foundation includes an acute angle edge and a concave widthwise contour. The top and bottom substructures are joined at the acute angle edge by a hinge means. An insert is formed to allow it to be replaceably interleaved between the top and bottom substructures.
The Sanders patent discloses an adjustable pillow. It comprises an adjustable neckroll section and a head support section. The neckroll section has a foam rubber pad rolled into a spiral roll and housed within a cylindrical case. The case can be opened to allow the pad to be removed and trimmed. The diameter of the neckroll can thus be adjusted to correspond to the contour of the user's neck. The head support section has an outer section and an inner section. The thickness of the outer section may be adjusted by adding or removing filler material. The thickness of the inner section may be adjusted by adding or removing inlays in a stacked arrangement.
The Gilroy patent discloses an anatomically contoured convoluted foam pad.
The Jones patent discloses a portable inflatable patient assist apparatus. It is a multi-chambered pad which is positioned on a bed wherein the bedridden person would make contact with the pad. The pad has first and second inflatable chambers positioned adjacent the bed, which would overlap down a double longitudinal axis. Each chamber has its own inlet for pressurized air to be pumped for selectively inflating that particular chamber.
The Tanaka patent discloses a cervical and head support pillow. It comprises an outer pillow covering with a top half and a bottom half, a contoured foam core, and three foam inserts which include a first height insert, a second height insert and a V-shaped insert.
The Jay patent discloses a customized seat cushion. It comprises securable removable supports which are used in combination with a shaped tray and a pad containing a fluid filling material. The supports are fastened to selected contours of the shaped tray, and the surface presented by the supports and shaped tray are covered by the pad which is fastened to the exposed surfaces of the tray and pads.
The Rogers patent discloses an edge-shear reduction in body support foam pads. The body support has a top opening.
The O'Sullivan patent discloses a therapeutic pillow cover having compartments for receiving hot/cold packs and/or pillow insert supports.
The Farley patent discloses a therapeutic mattress overlay and method of forming and using the same. The mattress has a hump for supporting the knees of an individual.
The Hsien patent discloses a spinal column correction device. It comprises a head rest, a lumbar rest, and a bottom rest. The head rest has a first raised support, a second raised support formed with a recess at the intermediate portion, a groove between the first raised support and the second raised support, a triangular region extending downwardly from the second raised support, and a Velcro strap at the lower edge of the head rest. The lumbar rest has a Velcro strap at the upper edge and the lower edge, a swollen region at the intermediate portion, a spine line at the center, a triangular region at the upper portion, and two recesses at the lower portion for receiving the hips of a user. The bottom rest has two recesses for receiving the feet of a user and a swollen region between the two recesses for resting the feet, whereby the device may effectively correct the spinal column of a user.
The Kunz patent discloses an inflatable head and torso support. It comprises a wedge shaped inflatable air bladder, a source of pressurized air, and air hose and valves for the controlled inflation and deflation of the air bladder.
The Ruscitto patent discloses a pillow case head cover made from a single piece of material folded and joined in a method so as to create two primary envelopes.
Many of these support devices are designed to offer support of the cervical or neck area of the user, and also provide a comfortable area on which the user may rest his/her head. However, none of the prior support devices teaches a spinal support and stretch pillow system for stretching the entire spine and correcting poor posture problems while a user is sleeping in the supine position or the lateral-lying position. It is desirable to provide a spinal support and stretch pillow system for passively treating certain spinal curvature disorders, including cervical, thoracic and lumbar disorders. It is also desirable to provide a spinal support and stretch pillow system for supporting a person's body in a manner required by his or her particular condition and to improve poor posture during sleep in either the supine position or lateral-lying position.